IN THECIRCUITCOURTOF THE

EIGHTEENTHJUDICIALCIRCUITIN
AND FORBREVARDCOUNTY,
FLORIDA

LINDASIMONS,

Plarntrff,
UW 9 l$-.Y*xxx-xx
t z zt',
-l ht
v o9= Cf
Case No *i-i-t
etCn
(/t C)
'r-ia; lrt
-cv
SEAWORLDOF FLORIDALLC,SEA -o
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WORLDLLC, SEAWORLDPARKS& '-
c' r:lt rrt
ENTERTAINMENTINC , and SEAWORLD \
v-
PARKS& ENTERTAINMENT LLC, =6
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1'O1-r J
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L'll t\)
Defendants J

5*ou.ft*tt
GOMPLAINTAND DEMANDFORJURYTRIAL
JURISDICTION
ANDVENUE
Plarntff,LINDAslMONS,by and throughher undersrgned
counsel,sues

Defendants,
SEAWoRLDLLC,SEAWORLDPARKS& ENTERTATNMENT,

lNc , SEAWORLDPARKS& ENTERTATNMENT

LLC,and SEAWORLD
oF
FLORIDALLC,(heretnafter
referredto as Defendants),
and allegesthe followrng

1 Thtsts an acttonln excessof the mtnlmumyunsdrctlon

of thls Court

2 Plalntrffrsa resrdentof BrevardCounty

3 DefendantSEAWORLDOF FLORIDALLC rsa FlorrdaCorporatron

authonzedand dolngbuslnessrnthe Stateof Florrda

4 DefendantSEAWORLDLLC rs a ForergnCorporatron
authorzed
and dorngbusrnessrn the state of Flonda
2010_cA
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5 Defendant
SEAWORLD
PARKS& ENTERTAINMENT,
tNC rsa
ForetgnCorporatron
authonzedand dorngbusrnessrn the Stateof Florrda

6 DefendantSEAWORLDPARKS& ENTERTATNMENT
LLC rs a
ForetgnCorporatlon
authonzedand dorngbusrnessrn the Stateof Florrda

7 Venuels properrn BrevardCountybecausethe bulkof the

damagesoccurredrn Brevardcounty Addrtronally,

Defendantsare

headquartered
ln OrangeCounty,a Countywhrchrsadlacentto BrevardCounty,

encompassed
by the Ffth DrstrtctDefendants
are powerfulcorporatrons
whrch
are an rntegralpartof the OrangeCountyEconomyPlarntrff
requtresa neutral

venue,suchas BrevardCounty,rn orderto havea farrtnal

BACKGROUND

8 On February16th,2010,Plalntrff
was hrredby Defendantsas the

Drrectorof Healthand Safety

9 On February24,2010,Defendants'
employee,DawnBrancheau,

was krlledby an Orca

10 On February
24,2010,OSHA,a FederalAgency,beganan rn

depthrnvestrgafion

11 Plarntrff
was asstgnedas the harsonbetweenDefendantsand the

OSHArnvestrgatlon

12 Plarntrff
was told by Defendants
to obstructthe lnvestrgatron,

manrpulate
documents,
wlthholddocuments,
makewftnesses
unavarlable,
and

'{a4Wj
 othertmproprtettes
whtchwere unlawful,whena governmentagencyrsdorngan

rnvestlgatron

13 Plalnttffvotcedher concernswrthmanagement
and refusedto
partrcrpate
rn the rllegalactronswhrchweredemandedby Defendants

14 On or aboutApnl22,2010,Plarntrff
was termrnated,
rn vrolatron
of

29 u s c S 660,and F s 448 102(2)and 448 102(g),for cooperatrng

wrthan

OSHArnvestrgatron

15 ln May,2010Plarntfffrledan OSHAretahatron
complarnt

16 In August2010,Plarntrff
frleda requestfor arbtratron
to addressher

employmentdtsputetssues,as requrredby Defendants'

mandatoryarbrtratron

program

17 On August23,2010,
an OSHArnvestrgatron
reportfound

Defendants
to haveactedwtthrecklessdrsregard
for humanlrfeand frned

Defendantsthe maxrmumftneof $70,00000

18 Prtorto the OSHAreportcomrngout,thereweretwo reportsthat

were berngcontemplated
by osHA one by the osHA rnvestrgator,
Laura

Pagett,and one whrchwas craftedby the OSHAAtlantaoffrce Dueto "polrtrcal

pressures,"
the osHA Atlantaoffrceand the osHA washrngtonoffrcegot

rnvolvedrn the preparatron

of the reports

19 Platntff,tn orderto brrngthe eventsthatweretransprrrng

to the
publrc,decrdedto truthfullyconveywhatwas occurnngto manyformsof the

medra

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 20 on August23,2010,PlarntffappearedrnGoodMornrng
Amerrca,
InsrdeEdrtron,
LarryKrngLrve,and partrcrpated
ln manyotherrntervrews

21 On Augustz(,2010,Plarntrff
alsoappearedon MSNBCand Fox

BusrnessNetwork,as wellas gave manyotherrntervrews

22 Addrtpnally,Plarntrff
spokewrthmanynewspapersrncrudrng
the

chrcagosun, the NewYorkDarlyNews,orlandosentrnel,and manyothers

23 ln response,Defendants
set out a masstvefalsePubhcRelatrons

campatgnto defameand slanderPlarntrff

24 All of the acttonable

clarmsof Plarnttff
thatform partof thrs

complarntoccurredon or afterAugust20, 2010

25 Plarntffhas retarnedthe undersrgned

attorneyand agreedto pay

hrma reasonable
fee

COUNTI
DEFAMATORY
SLANDERPERSE AND PERQUOD

26 Platnttffreallegesand tncorporates
paragraphs1 through25 of thrs

Complarntas f set forthrnfull herern

27 AfterAugust20, 2010Defendants
madenumerousfalseand

defamatorystatementsconcerntng
Plarntrff

28 The slanderousstatements
were unpnvrleged
and were made
pubhcto thrrdpartresThe thrrdpartresrncludedThe GoodMornrngAmenca

show, LarryKrngLrve,MSNBC,newspapers
fromaroundthe world,and many

others

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 29 The slanderousstatementsrnclude

a Ms Srmonsrs extorttngDefendants
b Platnttff
was termlnatedby Defendantsdue to poorperformance
c Ms Stmonsrepeatedly demonstrated an rnabrlrty
to conductherself
to the acceptablestandardsof competence
Ms Srmonsrepeatedly demonstrated an rnabrlrty
to conductherself
wrthtransparency
Ms Srmonsrepeatedly demonstratedan lnabrlrtyto conductherself
wtthrntegnty
Ms Stmonsrepeatedlydemonstrated an rnabrlrtyto conductherself
wrthprofessronahsm
g Ms SrmonsclatmsagarnstDefendants are false
h Ms Srmonshasbroughtuponunfounded charges
I Ms Stmonsaskedfor moneyrn exchangeto not go pubhcwrthher
clarms

30 At the ttmeof the termrnatron,

Defendants
offeredmoneyto the

Platnttfftn exchangefor Plarntff'ssrlenceand releaseof her clarms Plarntrff

refusedto srgnthe agreement

31 Defendants'statements
wererntentronal
and mallclousIn the

alternatrve,
theywere neghgent

32 The abovestatements
are defamatory
and/orare suscephble
of a

defamatorymeantngrnthat they sublectPlarntrff

to hatred,drstrust,ndrcule,

contempt,rrdrcule,
obloquy,and drsgrace

33 The abovestatements
and therrmeantngsare falseand

Defendants,
at the trmeof makrngthe statements,
knewtheywerefalseor had

senousdoubtsas to therrtruth

34 The abovestatements
are assertrons
of fact,notoptntons

35 As a drrectand proxrmate
resultof the aboveslanderous

statements,
Platntff,LINDASIMONS,hassustarned pecuntary
drrector rndrrect

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 lossrncludrng,
but not lrmrtedto, lostearnlngs,lostworkrngtrme,lossof fees,

busrness, personalgrowth,and lossof abllrtyto earn money

reputatron,

Addrtpnally,
Plarntff,LINDAslMONS,has sustarned
shame,mentarangursh,
personalhumlhatton,
hurtfeeltngs,mentalsufferrng,
and tn1ury
to reputatron
and

health,tn the pastand rnthe future All of the abovedamagesare contrnurng

and permanenttn nature

36 Addftronally,
as a resultof the slanderousstatements,
Plarnttff
has

beendamagedThe slanderousstatements
were a drrectattackon Plarntff's

professtonal
characterand standrngAddrtronally,
the slanderousstatements

contatnallegatrons
that Plarntrff
has commrtted
a cnmeof moralturpttude

37 Platnttffts entrtledto punrtrve

damagesrn thrscaseas the above

slanderousstatements
were mademahcrously,
wrllfully,
wantonly,and wrtha

recklessdtsregardfor the rrghtsof PlarntrffThe prrmarypurposern makrngthe

abovestatementswas to rndulgerllwrll,hostrlrty
and to harmthe PlarntrffThe

statementswere destgnedto destroythe reputatron

of Plarntrff
for Defendants'
pecunlarygaln and furtherance
of therrfalsePubhcRelatronscampatgnat the

unlustexpenseof Plarntrff

38 Addtttonally,
Plarntffrsentrtledto rnlunctrve
rehefto prevent

Defendants
from conttnurng
to defamePlarntrff

WHEREFORE
Plarntrff,
LINDASIMONSsuesthe Defendants
for

rehefto preventand stopDefendants

tnluncttve fromcontrnurng
to slanderand
defamePlatntff,compensatory
and punrtrve
damagesIn excessof the mtntmum

'ra4 krl
 ltmttsof thrsCourt,pluscosts,rnterestand all otherdamageswhrch
Jurlsdtcttonal

Plarntrff
may be entrtledto, and demandtrralby lury

COUNTII
DEFAMATORY LIBEL

39 Platntlffreallegesand rncorporates
paragraphs1 through38 of thrs

Complarntas rf set forthrnfull herern

40 AfterAugust20, 2010Defendantmadenumerousfalseand

defamatoryhbelouswrrttenstatementsconcerntng
Plarntrff
rnwnttenforrn

41 One of the hbelousstatementsrsattachedas Exhrbrt

A

42 The ltbelousstatements and were madepubhcto

were unprrvrleged

thtrdparttesThe thrrdpartresrncludedThe GoodMornrngAmerrcaShow,Larry

KrngLrve,MSNBC,newspapers
from aroundthe world,and manyothers

43 The slanderousstatementsrnclude

a Ms Srmonsrs extortrngDefendants
b Platntffwas termtnatedby Defendantsdue to poorperformance
c Ms Stmonsrepeatedly demonstrated an tnabrlrty
to conductherself
to the acceptablestandardsof competence
d Ms Srmonsrepeatedly demonstrated an rnabrlrty
to conductherself
wth transparency
e Ms Stmonsrepeatedly demonstrated an rnabrlrty
to conductherself
wrthrntegrrty
f Ms Stmonsrepeatedly demonstratedan rnabrlrty
to conductherself
wrthprofessronahsm
g Ms SrmonsclarmsagarnstSeaWorldare false
h Ms Srmonshas broughtuponunfounded charges
t Ms Stmonsaskedfor moneyrn exchangeto not go pubhcwrthher
clarms

44 Defendants'statements
were rntentronal
and malrcrousln the
alternatrve,
theywere neglrgent

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 45 The abovewnttenstatementsare defamatoryand/orare

susceptrble
of a defamatorymeanlngIn thattheysublectPlarntrff
to hatred,

drstrust,rrdrcule,
obloquy,contempt,and dlsgrace

46 The abovewnttenstatementsand therrmeantngsare false,and

Defendants,
at the trmeof maktngthe wnttenstatements,knewthey werefalse

or had senousdoubtsas to therrtruth

47 The abovewrrttenstatementsare an assertronof facts, not

o p r n l o ns

48 As a drrectand proxrmate
resultof the abovehbelousstatements,

Platntff,LINDASIMONS,hassustarned pecunlary
drrector rndrrect loss

rncludrng,
but not hmftedto, lostearntngs,lostworkrngtrme,lossof fees,

personalgrowth,and lossof abrlrtyto earn money

busrness,reputatron,

Addrtronally,
Plarntff,LINDASIMONS,hassustarned
shame,mentalangursh,

personalhumrhatron,
hurtfeehngs,mentalsufferrng,
and rn;uryto reputatron
and

health,ln the pastand rn the future All of the abovedamagesare contrnurng

and permanentrn nature

49 Addtttonallyr
as a resultof the ltbelousstatements,
Plarntffhas

beendamagedThe hbelousstatements
were a drrectattackon Plarntlffs

professtonal
characterand standrngAddrtronally,
the hbelousstatementscontaln

allegatrons
that Plarntrff
has commrtted
a cnmeof moralturprtude

50 Platnttffrs entrtledto punftrve

damagesrnthrscaseas the above

Irbelousstatements
were mademahcrously,
wrllfully,
wantonly,and wrtha

recklessdtsregardfor the rrghtsof PlarntrffThe prrmarypurposern maklngthe

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 abovestatements
wasto rndulgerllwrll,hostrlrty
andto harmthe PlarntlffThe

wrtttenstatementsweredesrgnedto destroythe reputatron

of Plarntrff
for

pecuntarygarnand furtherance
Defendants' of therrfalsePubhcRelattons

campatgnat the unlustexpenseof Plarntrff

WHEREFOREPlarntrff,
LINDASIMONSsuesthe Defendants
for

tnluncttve
reltef,compensatory
and punrtrve
damagestn excessof the mtntmum

ltmttsof thrsCourt,pluscosts,rnterest,
lunsdtcttonal and all otherdamageswhrch

Plarntffmay be entrtledto, and demandtnal by lury

DEMAND
FORJURYTRIAL
Plarntrff
demands
a Jurytrralon all rssueshererntnableby.lury
DATEDthrs3l st dayof August,2010

ARCADIER& ASSOCIATES,
PA

MaurrceArcadrer,Esqu
Florrda
BarNo 131180
Attorneys
for Plarntrff
2815W NewHavenAve,#304
W Melbourne,Flonda32904
Phone (321)953-5998
Fax (321)953-6075

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